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The Ion-isation of Entertainment Lighting Control
Since ETC introduced its compact new Ion lighting control desk a year ago, orders have come in from around the world. Nearly 1,000 new end users have seized the value in Ion's powerful functionality and affordable price point, from traditional mid-sized theatres, to independent contractors who own their own Ions.
Lighting designer Tim Edwards of TS Lighting in west London uses an Ion for control on all of his shows - from simple generic rigs to large ones requiring moving lights and complicated cueing. On a recent production of the musical Godspell - the musical based upon the gospel according to St Matthew - Edwards used the Ion to control conventionals, scrollers, Studio Colors and hazers. "ETC has really hit the nail on the head," says Edwards. "The Ion has been a joy to use. One of the major benefits for me is its effects generator. I can very quickly create and adapt existing effects to get stunning results. The offline editor is another extremely useful tool that enables me to program shows while on the move, via my laptop. And ETC's support and constant refinement of the software is really exciting, only making a great desk even better."
In response to market demand, rental companies across the world are stocking Ions for hire in production work, including Stage Electrics, White Light, London Light and Northern Light in the UK and Flashlight in The Netherlands.
Robbie van Pelt, production manager at Flashlight, added five Ions with expansion wings to the company's rental stocks, as well as ten SmartFade ML control systems. "We needed a new control desk for our theatre clients," he explains. "We deal with a lot of theatre companies, what they needed most was a powerful, compact system. With ETC, the price was very good as was its capabilities - it can easily and simply control a large number of luminaires, with more than enough capacity to handle all the equipment. Size is the important thing - no-one wants to tour with a larger board than necessary."
Flashlight's new SmartFade MLs were rented out on a number of large summer events in The Netherlands, including at Lowlands, a three-day festival with 60,000 visitors and on the one day Mysteryland festival.
Academic institutions such as the Sundukyan National Academic Theatre in Armenia, the Danish National School of Theatre in Copenhagen and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, Germany, are benefiting from their Ions - not only as state-of the-art educational tools on which to train future lighting professionals but also for handling a diverse roster of productions.
In addition to Ion's operational simplicity and the ability to address very simple or very complex luminaires, the desk's optional Universal Fader Wings appeal to TV production, with up to 300 pageable submasters for the kind of quick-change, hands-on control so often critical to daily demands of TV lighting. Pittsburgh Public TV in Pennsylvania, TV 2 in Oslo, Norway; and Dubai TV in the UAE, are just some of the broadcast venues controlling their rigs with Ion.
In picture: nearly 1,000 new end users have seized the value in Ion's powerful functionality
27th November 2008
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